Will we manage to get back in the fast lane of growth? We asked for
directions from two people with experience and insights on the
Internet economy.

MARIA BARTIROMO
Anchor; CNBC; Fort Lee, New Jersey
Two years ago, I believed, as did a lot of other people, that
massive investment in information technology was based on long-term
strategic needs. Some of it was, of course. But the vast majority
of IT spending was artificial and unsustainable, driven more by the
moment we were living through than anything else.

I recently had dinner with the CEO of a financial-services company.
He said, "Maria, my company purchased 25,000 PCs in 1999. Is there
any reason to purchase anything near that number anytime soon?" The
answer, of course, was no. He bought all those computers because of
Y2K. Once they were installed, that one-time problem was solved.

So dot-com hype wasn't the only factor behind the surge in
technology spending. And getting beyond Internet mania, which we
have, won't, by itself, get IT spending back on track.

That said, there is no shortage of things to be excited about. We
are living in a period of unprecedented technological advancement.

Maria Bartiromo reports from the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange. She also anchors segments of CNBC's Street Signs and
Market Wrap and co-produces Market Week With Maria Bartiromo. She
recently published her first book, Use the News: How to Separate
the Noise From the Investment Nuggets and Make Money in Any
Economy (HarperBusiness).

ANDREW ROSS
Professor and Director; Graduate Program in American Studies, New
York University; New York, New York

It's rare in history for workers to romanticize the workplace. But
that's what many people did during the dot-com glory days. There
was a new mentality largely destined by what I call the
"industrialization of bohemia." The office was re-imagined as a
giant, multipurpose playroom for an ever-shifting team of workers.